Download • Evaluate the extent to which the emergence of Islam in the seventh

Periodization
•
Evaluate the extent to which the emergence of
Islam in the seventh century c.e. can be
considered a turning point in world history.
•
In the development of your argument, explain what
changed and what stayed the same from the
period before the emergence of Islam in the
seventh century c.e. to the period after the
emergence of Islam in the seventh century c.e.
(Historical thinking skill: Periodization).
Thesis
•
A good response will have a stated thesis that makes a
historically defensible claim that addresses the extent to
which the emergence of Islam functioned as a turning point
during the seventh century C.E. The thesis must go beyond
simply stating that it was or was not a turning point. A good
thesis might make the claim that because Islam became
the dominant religion throughout much of Afro–Eurasia, it
was an important turning point in world history. However,
another good thesis might also make the claim that the
emergence of Islam was not a turning point because in the
seventh century C.E., it was limited to the Middle East and
its extensive impact in Afro–Eurasia came many centuries
later and in differing forms of Muslim religious practice.
Thesis
•
While it is acceptable for the thesis to focus on
either changes (by making an argument that the
emergence of Islam in the seventh century C.E.
was a turning point) or continuities (by making the
argument that the emergence of Islam in the
seventh century C.E. did not mark a significant
turning point), the body of the essay must evaluate
to some degree both changes AND continuities in
order to earn full points.
Evidence
•
In a good response, students will support their
argument with specific examples that clearly and
consistently demonstrate ways in which the period
before the rise of Islam was similar to and different from
the period after its rise. A strong essay will not only
describe these similarities and differences but also use
them to analyze and explain the significance or extent
of the impact of Islam on the trajectory of world history.
A strong response will demonstrate knowledge of the
relevant chronology and a detailed understanding of
the events and circumstances of the period.
Synthesis
•
A good response also synthesizes and extends the
argument. One way to do this would be to compare the
effects of the emergence of Islam with other possible
turning points in world history in different time periods. A
strong essay asserting that the emergence of Islam was
not a significant turning point could do so by comparing it
with another turning point in a different place or time that
had greater coherence and impact across world history. A
student could make the case, for example, that the fall of
the Classical empires across Eurasia in the third and fourth
centuries C.E. was a more significant turning point in world
history than the rise of Islam in the seventh century C.E.
Characteristics of an Era vs.
Turning Point
•
In what ways did the Protestant Reformation reflect
the cultural and intellectual trends of the
Renaissance?
•
In what ways was the Thirty Years War a turning
point in European culture and political history?